MIDN 1/C Hansen, MIDN 1/C Fincher, MIDN 1/C Keith,

MIDN 1/C Noyola, MIDN 1/C ToppAdvisor: CAPT Nicholson, USN

Problem Statement

To design an autonomous underwater vehicle to compete in the annual Association of Unmanned Vehicle

Systems International and Office of Naval Research AUV competition in

San Diego.

Background Competition• 6th year competing• Placed highly in recent competitions

Current Strengths• Navigation by dead reckoning using

DVL

Current Weaknesses• No mission devices (grabber,

launcher, etc.)• Sensors are not fully integrated

Competition• 15th Annual Robosub

Competition• This year’s theme:

The Ides of March• Consists of a series

of underwater obstacles

• Points awarded for completion of obstacles (partial credit discretionary)

• It is not required that you attempt every obstacle

Research

• Other Team Projects (Top Three)1) Team Sonia ETS 2) Cornell 3) University of Florida

• Experience of former team members and our advisor

Reused Parts Quantity Cost Total

SeaCon Conectors 11 $ 110 $ 1210.00

Wireless Network Components $ 379.96

Daylight Readable Laptops 2 $ 3,379.95 $ 6,759.90

Keller America Leverage Pressure Sensor 1 $ 200.00 $ 200.00

Technodyne Model 300 Thrusters 6 $ 2,804.88 $ 16,829.28

NiMH Batteries 6 $ 28.95 $ 173.7

ALP-365 Acoustic Locator Flexi-Pinger 1 $ 999.00 $ 999.00

Teledyne DVL 1 $ 28,100.00 $ 28,100.00

Filter and A/D Board 4 $ 17.76 $ 71.04

Multi-Current Smart Charger 4 $ 29.95 $ 119.80

Underwater Switch for Divers 1 $ 55.53 $ 55.53

Reused Parts Quantity Cost Total

PNI TCM2.6 Compass 2 $ 1,679.00 $ 3,358.00

Router 2 $ 150.00 $ 300.00

Buoy and Tether 1 $ 30 $ 30

COGNEX IS5400-C Color Sensor 2 $ 7,210.00 $ 14,420.00

IS Right Angle Ethernet Cable 4 $ 180.00 $ 720.00

IS Right Angle Power Cable 4 $ 170.00 $ 680.00

Power Distribution Circuit 4 $ 83.00 $ 332.00

Power Circuit Parts $ 245.10 $ 245.10

Xbee Pro 60mW series 2 $ 36.95 $ 73.90

Total Old Materials (estimate) $75,000

Parts List

New Parts Quantity Cost Total

Wires $ 12.00

Caswell 1/8” Stainless Shafts 5 $ 2.75 $ 13.75

Caswell Rotary Seals 12 $ 2.00 $ 24.00

Dropper System $ 10

New SeaCon Connectors

2 $ 123.75 x1$ 134.55 x1

$ 258.30

Pelican 1120 Case

1 $ 25 $ 25

Pelican 1450 Case 1 $ 95.00 $ 95.00

Fiberglass (Frame)

$ 145

Torpedo System $ 30

Parts List

Total New Materials (estimate) $615

Total Materials (estimate) $75,615

Functional Block Diagram

Demonstration Plan Follow Path

• Navigate with Dead Reckoning • Implement cameras for primary navigation

Buoys• Use cameras to identify correct buoy• Use cameras to fine tune position

Gates• Navigate through gates using Dead Reckoning• Implement cameras for primary navigation

Bins• Actuator triggered by the cameras• Use the cameras to fine tune the position

PVC• Pick up the PVC and surface• Return PVC to original position and resurface

Surfacing through Octagon• Utilize SONAR (passive) to identify correct octagon• Utilize SONAR (passive) to navigate to correct octagon

Responsibility Breakdown

Cameras Code SONAR Frame Actuators Wiring

Fincher P

Hansen S P S P

Keith P

Noyola S P S

Topp S P

Key:P = PrimaryS = Secondary

Frame and Actuators

MIDN 1/C HansenMIDN 1/C Noyola

• Increase adaptability

• Allow more room for actuators

• Allow for future modifications

Frame Design

Figure 1: Pin design

Figure 2: Wheel design

Figure 3: Target to be picked up

Grabber Design

Figure 5: Torperdo launcher

Figure 4: Torpedo targets

Torpedo Design

Figure 6: Dropper design Figure 7: Dropper targets (Bins)

Dropper Design

Wiring

MIDN 1/C Hansen

Wiring Example *Kill Switch Board*

Kill Switch Relay

Kill Switch Power

To Camera Box Light

(#5)

Thrusters (wire #1

from each)

Stbd

Aft Down

Fwd DownPort

Wiring Example

Software

MIDN 1/C Topp

• Programmed in C & run in Linux• In the past, the groups have relied heavily on

waypoint navigation.– Essentially, the groups would enter a specific

point based on the fix of the vehicle & would have the vehicle navigate to the point.

• Previous groups have attempted to use camera navigation but have been unsuccessful.

• Our goal is to successfully implement camera vision into our system navigation.

Background: Navigation

• Essentially, we use a shared memory function to store all of the necessary variables– This allows variables to be called up in several different

programs & be stored to one common function.• Ex: In the “maneuver.c” program, there is a switch function

based on case numbers– case 0 = maintain position– case 1 = waypoint navigation– case 2 = camera navigation– case 3 = SONAR navigation

• In the “forward camera.c” program, if a buoy or a bin is detected, the following line of code is executed:– shm_struc->positionControlMode = 2;

• This stores “2” as the positionControlMode variable through the shared memory function. This variable can then be recalled in the “maneuver.c” program, activating camera navigation.

Basics of the Code

• Historically, this has been the most reliable method of navigation for the vehicle.

• Takes a reading from the DVL (using compass and speed over ground) and navigates the AUV to the desired waypoint.

• Will use this for most obstacles except the buoy and bins obstacle.

Waypoint Navigation

• The officials will release a certain order of colors to hit.

• A menu pops up prompting the user to choose a color.

• The choice of color stores variables xRed, yRed, etc.

• Camera vision navigation is then implemented to navigate to desired buoy.

Buoy Obstacle

• The forward camera outputs a certain string of numbers:– 1 = passing, 0= fail– [row, col] of the centroid of the detected object– Color as the equivalent integer to ascii

character• Red = 114• Green = 103• Yellow = 121• No Match = 78

Camera Vision: Basics

• If the camera detects an object (output = 1)– shm_struc->positionControlMode = 2; which switches to camera vision navigation– We then read the x coordinate for the centroid and store

it in variable xRed/xGreen/xYellow– The depth of the object is given at the competition, so it

will be preprogrammed into the system.– We then calculated the pixels/degree of the camera

• # columns = 640• FOV = 15°• Pixels/degree = # columns/FOV• Pixels/degree = 42.7 pixels/1 degree

Camera Vision Pseudocode Example

• We then implemented the following line of code:– shm_struc->ord_head = 42.7/xRed;

• This line takes pixels per degree and divides it by the pixel position of the object

• The output ord_head is a degree value to be implemented in the camera vision navigation portion of the code.

• This portion of coding simply orders Romulus to navigate to the ordered heading.

Camera Vision Navigation Logic

Camera Vision Navigation

• After the camera hits the correct buoy, it switches back to waypoint navigation to move on to the next obstacle.

• I have added a “timeout” feature to the code. Essentially, if the robot has switched to camera navigation, after 1 minute of not finding a buoy or a bin it will switch back to waypoint navigation.

Camera Vision: Fail Check

• This uses essentially the same logic as buoys but instead of color, the downward camera will output variables corresponding to shapes.

• The code will then execute the appropriate sequence in order to drop the projectile into the correct bin.

Bins

Cameras

MIDN 1/C Fincher

Cameras

Cognex 5400C• Onboard processing• In-Sight Explorer software• C-mount lens

Buoys

• Forward camera• Find curved edge first• Find color next– Bank of three colors

• Pass depends on both fixtures• Trouble with thresholding

Bins

• Downward camera• PatMax• Thresholding– Contrast– Rotation– Scale

SONAR

MIDN 1/C Keith

• Competition Requirements• ORE Multi-Beacon• SONAR Operation Basics– Four Omni-Directional Hydrophone’s– Data Processing Circuit– Code

Passive SONAR

• Two 9’ diameter octagon shaped surfacing areas

• One of the pinger’s is turned on before each competition run

• Goal is to surface completely inside the correct Octagon

• Practice and Competition Pinger going at the same time

SONAR & The Competition

• Transponder/Responder modes

• Same ‘pinger’ used in the competition

• Set to frequency between 22kHz and 30kHz

• Requires Driving Mechanism

ORE 4330B Multi-Beacon

Multi-Beacon Circuit

• Reson TC4013 omni-directional hydrophone

• Output….

Hydrophones

SONAR Data Processing Circuit

• AD605 Variable Gain Amplifier

• Multiple feedback active band pass filter

• Voltage Divider and Comparator with Hysteresis

• Digital Signal processing microcontroller

• Three simultaneous outputs• RS232 UART• Serial Peripheral Bus

(SPI) 64K Serial Memory

• 10-Bit Quad DAC

• Written in C• Two programs– Sonar.c program gets the Azimuth,

Elevation, Status, and tells which pinger is being detected

– Navigationcenter.c filters multiple sensor data to determine most likely position

SONAR Code

Special Thanks to

Project Advisor

Captain Nicholson, USN

Systems TSD

Rickover Machine Shop

Rickover Hydro Lab